In German Flatts, conflicts continue among town officials

MOHAWK — Peter Rovazzi’s short time as town supervisor has been rather unsettled, and that continued Monday.

Rovazzi — a political newcomer who was sworn in Jan. 2 — unseated Frank Spatto, the town’s longtime supervisor, in November.

Since then, Rovazzi said he has been rebuffed in his efforts to assume the town supervisor role.

"I’m trying to make a smooth transition," Rovazzi said Sunday afternoon. "No one was cooperating. Very minimally."

The German Flatts Town Board voted to postpone its organizational meeting last week following disputes between its current members and Rovazzi. That meeting took place Monday night.

Rovazzi said the issues have been coming from Spatto, the budget officer and the town clerk. The troubles came about throughout November and December as he sought to hit the ground running in the new position in January, Rovazzi said.

"That’s basically where the lack of communication has come from," Rovazzi said. "Everyone was not on the same page."

Spatto declined to comment. German Flatts Town Clerk Marie Hennings also declined comment.

Like at the Jan. 2 meeting, things got off to a tumultuous start Monday. Arguments started even before the meeting began, when a back and forth over seating occurred between Rovazzi and Councilman Denny Mowers.

Rovazzi wanted to situate the board so everyone was facing the public. Mowers wanted — and eventually got — to have the board sit around the table in a circle, the way it had been for years.

Rovazzi said he was against the circle due to some of the board members having their back to the public. Mowers and others wanted to remain in the circle for better communication among the board members.

"You are only a supervisor," Mowers said to Rovazzi at one point during the tense exchange.

Public perception

The issues on the board have not gone unnoticed by the public.

"They’re being nasty," Barbara Wiers said of the town board. "It’s too bad. It’s really bad. They’re setting him (Rovazzi) up for failure."

Wiers said she went to school with Spotto and Virginia Jaquish — Rovazzi’s mother — and continues to be friends with Jaquish.

Spatto and the town board have been involved in a legal dispute with Rovazzi’s parents, William and Virginia Jaquish, the owners of the now closed Creekside Mobile Home Park, over a permit. An appeals court in Rochester is expected to hear the Jaquishes’ case on Friday, Jan. 19.

Herkimer County Legislator Bob Hollum, who represents District 4 — which is only made up of districts in German Flatts — also spoke up at Monday’s meeting. Hollum said he did not think things were going as smoothly as they could due to the overall change of the board.

"Transition is hard," Hollum told the board and members of the public who attended the meeting.

Hollum implored the board to work together and to get things working smoothly.

Rovazzi said the problems are slowing things down and hindering his ability to handle his role, but he also said he's hopeful the political issues can be put behind him and everyone can move on.

"It’s time to move on and work for the betterment of the town," Rovazzi said.

Questionable executive session

Things eventually settled down Monday and the meeting — which mainly consisted of a long executive session — had no issues.

The executive session, however, did not comply with the law, said Bob Freeman of the Department of State Committee on Open Government.

Rovazzi said the board talked about the 2018 budget during the executive session. He said the budget total did not change, though the board restructured some of the salaries.

Freeman said this did not meet any of the requirements needed for an executive session.

"None of those grounds for executive session would even come close," Freeman said.

Freeman said the board was talking about the positions and salaries, not an actual person. To create the need for an executive session for a particular person the criteria needs to be centered around things in reference to medical, financial or credit, Freeman said.

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